Solar cells and solar cell modules convert sunlight into electricity. Traditional solar cell modules are typically comprised of polycrystalline and/or monocrystalline silicon solar cells mounted on a support with a rigid glass top layer to provide environmental and structural protection to the underlying silicon based cells. This package is then typically mounted in a rigid aluminum or metal frame that supports the glass and provides attachment points for securing the solar module to the installation site. A host of other materials are also included to make the solar module functional. This may include junction boxes, bypass diodes, sealants, and/or multi-contact connectors used to complete the module and allow for electrical connection to other solar modules and/or electrical devices. Certainly, the use of traditional silicon solar cells with conventional module packaging is a safe, conservative choice based on well understood technology.
Drawbacks associated with traditional solar module package designs, however, have limited the ability to install large numbers of solar panels in a cost-effective manner. This is particularly true for large scale deployments where it is desirable to have large numbers of solar modules setup in a defined, dedicated area. Traditional solar module packaging comes with a great deal of redundancy and excess equipment cost. For example, a recent installation of conventional solar modules in Pocking, Germany deployed 57,912 monocrystalline and polycrystalline-based solar modules. This meant that there were also 57,912 junction boxes, 57,912 aluminum frames, untold meters of cablings, and numerous other components. These traditional module designs inherit a large number of legacy parts that hamper the ability of installers to rapidly and cost-efficiently deploy solar modules at a large scale.
Traditional solar cell modules are also limited in the size of their cells and accordingly have limits on the size of their modules. For example, traditional silicon solar cells are limited by the raw silicon ingots used for those cells. The current sizes are limited to 100 mm, 125 mm, 150 mm, and 200 mm sized cells. These limits of the cells also introduces limits to the size of modules available. The limits on module size results in wasted space in the shipping containers used to transport these modules and solar assemblies to installation sites. Limited module sizes limit the amount of product that a manufacturer can efficiently transport to an installation site. Due to the suboptimal sizing of these traditional module packages, wasted space and capacity is introduced along the entire manufacturing, delivery, and installation process.
Although subsidies and incentives have created some large solar-based electric power installations, the potential for greater numbers of these large solar-based electric power installations has not been fully realized. There remains substantial improvement that can be made to photovoltaic cells and photovoltaic modules that can greatly improve their ease of installation, maximize the capacity delivered, and create much greater market penetration and commercial adoption of such products, particularly for large scale installations.